The group's mission is to provide theater and Air Force commanders with trained aircrews and maintenance personnel and systems for airborne surveillance, warning and control of U.S. and allied military aircraft.

Supported ground forces during the battle for northern Burma and the subsequent Allied drive southward.

Flew Allied troops and materiel to the front, transporting gasoline, oil, vehicles, engineering and signal equipment, and other items that the group either landed or dropped in Burma.

It maintained and operated EC-135s as an airborne command post and acted as host organization for American units at RAF Mildenhall until February 1992.

In addition, the group collected samples from the atmosphere for the purpose of detecting and identifying nuclear explosions.

The Air Force's fiscal year 2015 budget request called for the inactivation of the 513th ACG and the retirement of seven E-3 Sentries.

[4] The House Armed Services Committee passed an amenedment in May 2014 to block the inactivation of the group and save three aircraft which were intended to be retired.

This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency